Baku, Azerbaijan, July 23
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
Had it not been for US sanctions, Pakistan would soon implement the project on the purchase of Iranian gas, Chief Executive of the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) Mehran Amir-Moeini told ILNA, Trend reports.
According to Amir-Moeini, Iran has an agreement with Pakistan on gas exports, but the Pakistani side has not built the pipeline in its territory.
Amir-Moeini added that discussions are being held with Pakistan so as to make sure that the Pakistani side is fully content with the terms of the project, and that gas exports commence with the completion of the remaining unfinished sections of the pipeline.
Commenting on the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) project, the chief executive said that although gas is intended to be exported to India, this is out of the realm of possibility when considering Pakistan’s gas consumption levels. Exports may reach Pakistan at best, while further exports to India are out of the question.
"The TAPI pipeline project is conditioned by the solution of political problems in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. If these problems are not resolved, the project will remain on paper. At present, the Iranian side is not very worried because of the TAPI project," he said.
The US imposed sanctions on Iran in November 2018 and has subsequently expanded its list of sanctions.
The TAPI project is a project that shall bring Turkmen gas to India through Afghanistan and Pakistan.